Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ESCAPE MECHANISM BY CHARLES E. FRITCH _Being a world unto one's self is lonely. Even the poor amoeba creature from Venus knew that...._ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, April 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] She found herself floating again in that strange half-familiar world of murky fluid where only she existed. The liquid was all around her, pressing gently on all sides with a force that cushioned but did not restrain. It was a pleasant sensation, a calming one; the cares of the outside world were non-existent and therefore meaningless. She drifted, unhampered by the fluid. There seemed to be no direction but outward. Her thoughts went out and they returned with impressions. This was her world and she was the center of it. It pleased her to think this. It was an alien pleasure that was mental and without physical counterpart. There was quiet, stillness, a peace she had never known. The fluid flowed about her like a great silent sea that held no sound, no movement. It seemed natural that she should be here. She was content. * * * * * At the accustomed time, the autohypnotics in Miss Abby Martin's body forced her to the threshold of consciousness and cleared her brain of the fog of sleep. Slowly, she opened her eyes to the morning brightness of her bedroom and stared at the vacant skylight and the blue expanse of sky beyond it, not quite comprehending where she was. The cloudfoam cushions of her bed gave credence to the floating sensation she had had during her dream, and for a few seconds she lacked orientation. Then her eyes wandered about the room, to the closed door of the raybath stall, the retracted dressing table, the chronometer label that told her it was March 14, 2123 at thirty seconds past 0700 hours. The subtle intonation of her favorite music, Czerdon's "Maze of Crystal" murmured softly from the walls.